CZ buys Colt
- Thread starter wimpanzee
- Start date
Maybe by selling to a foreign company they won't be so easily sued out of business. It might make the AR platform less available because of import restriction? IDK.
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Strange. I'm not sure how to feel about this. Sad when an American icon ends up mismanaged enough that foreign investors can scoop it up like this. And 220 mil seems cheap for an entire gun company with a product catalog as mature as Colt's. Is that a fire sale price or something?
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This news makes me think there might be a Colt I'd find interesting enough to actually own. That said, had I bonded with the one Colt (Python) I owned for a very short while decades ago, I could sell it for enough now to fund a new pickup!
I do love CZs!
I do love CZs!
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Yup! Very sad because it's an american icon ruined by corporate greed! The "management" milked all they could from the company and backs of people who work there and dumping it. Hope the people work there is smarting enough to find a new job now!
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Relied for too long on military contracts. Got behind on marketing to the public. Then you add endless lawsuits by liberals who hate freedom.
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The one plus side I can see is Colt gets CZ barrels, as we know which are some of the finest in the world, for non-custom.
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Kind of reminds me what happened to Remington. They got a big lawsuit against them because some idiot just happen to use a Remington rifle in a mass shooting. That person could have used any kind of rifle. Remington shouldn’t of been responsible for that. It was the idiot behind the trigger.I know the company was having problems before that but that put the last nail in the coffin.
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Colt has been a classic example of corporate mismanagement for very many years. It is but a shadow of its former self and I am actually surprised they got $220 million for it, given the financial situation it is in. Both Qball and jasmlowe are absolutely correct, except that the issue of lawsuits has very little to do with it. Colt relied on military contracts, then just on licensing money since most (actually now just about all) M4s and other M16/AR15 variants for the military are actually made by FN (a Belgian firm by the way). They have been largely a non-factor in the (much larger) civilian market for a number of years.
Remington is yet another example of mismanagement. First of all they were bought by Cerberus (a Private equity firm) back in 2007. Cerberus then tried to put together a massive firearms firm by buying a number of other smaller manufacturers, such as Bushmaster, Para-Ordnance, Marlin, etc. They installed someone as CEO who knew nothing about firearms, or marketing and drove a number of these brands into the ground. They pulled the whole thing under the Remington brand a few years ago, completely closing some of the brands (like Para-Ordnance) while trying to revitalize some others like Marlin. However, they also took out a lot of cash from the business through dividends and distributions, replacing it with debt. In the end the combination of poor management and extremely high debt levels drove the business into bankruptcy, at a time when most other gun makers are actually seeing a bit of a revival after the “Trump Slump’. (Note please, that this is not bashing anyone. It’s the name for the period during which gun sales declined due to the fact that people were not longer afraid that gun control legislation would make guns difficult to get. This was why gun sales boomed during the Obama years and when people thought the Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 election). Bits and pieces are now being sold off for fractions of what they originally cost, but they still have value - Marlin, for example, was recently purchased by Ruger, and I am sure will do well. Here again, the lawsuits, which have been around since after the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, even before the Las Vegas shootings, were only a relatively minor factor.
Chris
Remington is yet another example of mismanagement. First of all they were bought by Cerberus (a Private equity firm) back in 2007. Cerberus then tried to put together a massive firearms firm by buying a number of other smaller manufacturers, such as Bushmaster, Para-Ordnance, Marlin, etc. They installed someone as CEO who knew nothing about firearms, or marketing and drove a number of these brands into the ground. They pulled the whole thing under the Remington brand a few years ago, completely closing some of the brands (like Para-Ordnance) while trying to revitalize some others like Marlin. However, they also took out a lot of cash from the business through dividends and distributions, replacing it with debt. In the end the combination of poor management and extremely high debt levels drove the business into bankruptcy, at a time when most other gun makers are actually seeing a bit of a revival after the “Trump Slump’. (Note please, that this is not bashing anyone. It’s the name for the period during which gun sales declined due to the fact that people were not longer afraid that gun control legislation would make guns difficult to get. This was why gun sales boomed during the Obama years and when people thought the Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 election). Bits and pieces are now being sold off for fractions of what they originally cost, but they still have value - Marlin, for example, was recently purchased by Ruger, and I am sure will do well. Here again, the lawsuits, which have been around since after the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, even before the Las Vegas shootings, were only a relatively minor factor.
Chris
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It's interesting, except for small, custom shops, there are very few American owned gun companies left. Three that come to mind, Mossberg, Ruger, Springfield, and they are all profitable, probably due to good, family management. The general US public doesn't realize how small and fragile the gun industry is in the US. Most of the former larger US makers suffered financial declines, were bought by private equity firms that have no expertise in gun making, and either still stumble along at a loss, or have sold to larger European companies whose management, mostly family, still understand the gun business. The political, social, and legal environment in the US appears to be slowly but surely driving the industry out of this country. If you look at the capital investment and innovative designs of companies like Beretta and CZ, it's no surprise that they are going to be the survivors.
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I actually think Colt will do much better under CZ than how it was doing as an independent. Both CZ USA and Dan Wesson (which is a CZ subsidiary) are doing quite well these days!
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Okay, I want to add one comment. I am not up on the latest firearms tech since living outside the USA so long, so I don’t know what Colt’s latest and greatest is, but I have always thought they are over priced for what they sell. However, one of the brands I have always been a fan of and see as innovate is CZ. Maybe CZ can bring some streamlining to Colt and up their innovation. I see it as a win win.
CZ is in the heart of the industry with a loyal following, and we know true to the cause of producing quality products for their customers, firearms and airarms. CZ will help not hurt Colt, IMHO. CZ isn’t some investment banker / hedge fund / etc that like guns, but a company that believes in Czech work ethic, “its okay to party your ass off but make sure you put in a full productive and quality work for your customers.” I am half Czech and this is what my grandparents taught us. I think CZ lives up to this Bohemian ethic.
CZ is in the heart of the industry with a loyal following, and we know true to the cause of producing quality products for their customers, firearms and airarms. CZ will help not hurt Colt, IMHO. CZ isn’t some investment banker / hedge fund / etc that like guns, but a company that believes in Czech work ethic, “its okay to party your ass off but make sure you put in a full productive and quality work for your customers.” I am half Czech and this is what my grandparents taught us. I think CZ lives up to this Bohemian ethic.
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I agree completely. CZ will only help Colt (which desperately needs help!). And I’m not even 1% Czech
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I have had some Colts,disappointed by all except the Python,it is the best oh the Woodmen has ok........yea Colt has been in and out of trouble for decades.
CZ is great...had a 360cc and a 250cc..very reliable....
CZ is great...had a 360cc and a 250cc..very reliable....
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Interesting ... CZ buys U.S. Colt. Wondering if any effect on the airgun side of the business?
https://www.reuters.com/article/czg-colt-idUSL1N2KH3HO
https://www.reuters.com/article/czg-colt-idUSL1N2KH3HO
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One more reason to not buy a Colt. IMHO, they have been riding their namesake for a long time now. I don't know their situation, but know the one CZ I owned broke down the middle of the breech face at around 300 rounds. To the best of my knowledge it has never been repaired. CZ wouldn't even talk to me, and the shop I bought from heard about it through a mutual friend. They stepped up and credited the price for a Glock.
One place made a customer for life, the other lost one that day. Recon how many know that Browning (pistols) is owned by FNH, and has been since the 1890's?
One place made a customer for life, the other lost one that day. Recon how many know that Browning (pistols) is owned by FNH, and has been since the 1890's?
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